Homicide in Niles Township
· Date and Time of Incident: 08/13/2017 at 5:56 PM
· Type of Incident: Homicide
· Location of Incident: 1429 Lawndale Ave, Niles Township
On Sunday August 13th at approximately 5:56 PM officers were called to the residence at 1429 Lawndale Avenue in Niles Township for a possible shooting. Upon arrival officers confirmed that a 55 year old female had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene. The caller was the 49 year old husband who stated that unknown subjects had entered the residence and shot his wife in the basement of the residence. It is alleged that these same suspects fled the scene in the victim’s 2008 Mazda CX-9 which is dark in color. The vehicle has a Michigan Registration of (CMY 3721) and has been entered as a stolen. Anyone who has information as to the whereabouts of this vehicle is asked to contact the police immediately and any occupants are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. This incident remains under investigation by the Berrien County Sherriff’s Office, Berrien County Homicide Task Force and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force. The Michigan State Police Crime Lab was called in to process the scene for any forensic evidence.
An autopsy was scheduled for today (08/14/2017) at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in Kalamazoo.
Victim: Carla Jean Lewis, 55 years of age, 1429 Lawndale Avenue, Niles MI 49120.
During this investigation it was discovered that John Benton Lewis, 49 years of age, was not in compliance with the Medical Marijuana Act and was lodged at the Berrien County Jail for this violation.
This incident remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to contact the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office at (269) 983-7141.
** No further information is available at this time and any further details will be provided via a press release as they become available.
